Arsenal boss Wenger has come under fire for using a stock response after Tuesday night’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Monaco.
The Gunners battled impressively to beat their Ligue 1 opponents 2-0, but the damage had been done in the home leg where they lost 3-1.
Wenger surprised the gathered journalists post-match by unfolding a sheet of notes he had prepared in advance from a folder clearly entitled: 'Open After Champions League Last 16'.
“In the end we left ourselves too much to do after the first leg,” Wenger read.
“You just can’t afford to give a team like insert team name here a lead like that, and in the end it proved costly.
“We will still take a lot of positives from this game, and the performance of insert name of goalscorer here. I have to congratulate the team that beat us, but insert snide dig at the referee and/or opposition coach here.
“We must now regroup and focus on the FA Cup if applicable and our title bid, no, wait that’s been crossed out.”
While there has been some criticism of Wenger’s approach, club officials insist the manager’s time-saving measure is just good sense.
“It’s much quicker this way,” a club source told FourFourTwo.
“We have a template for an underwhelming start to the season, a template for hitting form, one for admitting defeat in the title race that’s scheduled for February, and then several that lament refereeing decisions Arsene didn’t actually have an ideal view of.”
